The Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza. Photo: Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem
Following strike in Kyiv and Gaza hospital closure, LWF urges all parties to respect international humanitarian law
(LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) insists: “Hospitals in conflict zones must be protected.” In a statement today, the LWF reiterated calls for all parties to respect international humanitarian law, as it strongly condemned “two harrowing examples” from conflict zones in Kyiv and Gaza.
The LWF strongly condemned this week’s Russian missile strike that struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, and the subsequent closure of the Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza, Palestine, following an evacuation order by the Israeli Defense Forces.
“LWF calls on all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law, ensuring that hospitals are never targeted and that their ongoing operations are guaranteed,” the stamen underlined.
In Kyiv, the missile strike partially destroyed a children’s hospital, forcing many patients and families to flee for their lives. In Gaza, the order to evacuate the Anglican church-run hospital, putting injured and sick people in even greater risk.
LWF’s operations in Ukraine from the frontline city of Kharkiv include support to war-affected families in the city and its surroundings with shelter rehabilitation, food and relief goods.
LWF co-operates with the with the Al-Ahli Anglican Hospital in Gaza. Following the evacuation orders, LWF’s Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem was compelled to halt the start of its planned telemedicine clinics for cancer patients who have been unable to access any treatment since the war began on 7 October.
